Political Reviews Micronesia in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 john r haglelgam, david w kupferman, kelly g marsh, samuel f mcphetres, donald r shuster, tyrone j taitano Polynesia in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011 lorenz gonschor, hapakuke pierre leleivai, margaret mutu, forrest wade young © 2012 by University of Hawai‘i Press 135 156 the contemporary pacific • 24:1 (2012) in the month of May alone, putting .huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/06/ Marshallese society on track to reach marshall-islands-climate-_n_792799.html over fifty suicides for the year—twice Heine, Carl. 1974. Micronesia at the the total for its worst year on record, Crossroads: A Reappraisal of the Microne- 2003, in which there were twenty-six sian Political Dilemma. Honolulu: Univer- (MIJ, 3 June 2011). While the Ministry sity Press of Hawaii. of Health and various nongovernmen- Huffington Post. 2011. 50 Million tal organizations have been mobilized Environmental Refugees by 2020, to stem the surge in suicides, it is not Experts Predict. 22 February. http://www clear yet what the underlying causes .huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/22/ are; regardless, the rash of deaths environmental-refugees-50_n_826488.html in both Majuro and Ebeye over the Johnson, Giff. 2010. Marshalls Seek Funds period under review has raised public for Majuro Seawall. Marianas Variety, calls of alarm. 1 November. http://archives.pireport.org/ In many respects the period under archive/2010/november/11-01-04.htm review has been one of the Marshall MIJ, Marshall Islands Journal. Majuro. Islands’ most trying, testing its abil- Weekly. ity to survive and persist as a nation physically, politically, and socially. NYT, New York Times. Daily. It points to even more difficult times ahead should these issues not be met with the urgency they require. The Commonwealth of the country has been relatively quiet in the Northern Mariana Islands run-up to the November 2011 election compared with the heated political The fiscal condition of the government rhetoric of past contests, but this elec- of the Commonwealth of the North- tion may prove to be the most impor- ern Mariana Islands (CNMI) has been tant in the country’s history, consider- rapidly declining since the garment ing what is at stake for its immediate factories on Saipan began shutting and long-term future. We will see down in 2005 and the last one closed what changes, if any, this exercise in its doors in 2009. In the exhilarating democracy will bring to the people of days of the late 1990s, with thirty-five the Marshall Islands. garment factories and 700,000 tourists david w kupferman a year, annual government revenues reached $250 million. It is anticipated that revenue this fiscal year (Oct References 2011–Sept 2012) will be down to somewhere between $92 million and Anderson, Benedict. 1983. Imagined Com- $102 million. munities: Reflections on the Origin and As could be expected, adjusting to Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso. such a reduced revenue stream is a Hanley, Charles J. 2010. Marshall Islands’ very difficult thing to do after hav- Climate Change Dilemma: If It Vanishes ing lived so comfortably. As a result, Beneath Rising Sea Levels, Is It Still a a great deal of time and rhetoric has Nation? 6 December. http://www been devoted to the issue of whether political reviews • micronesia 157 casinos should be allowed on Saipan. discontinued. The casino hotel in When the government was unable Tinian owes $30 million in back taxes to settle debates over the fiscal year to the commonwealth government 2011 budget (Oct 2010–Sept 2011) and, unless there are some immediate by the 30 September 2010 deadline, it changes in airline services, the Rota was completely shut down in compli- resort casino will probably not last ance with a constitutional amendment another six months. recently approved by the voters that Largely because of the increased “states that the government may not costs of doing business, several airlines draw funds from the general fund, have canceled flights from Japan and with the exception of certain essential have reduced flights to and from other services, if no appropriations act is in destinations. On the other hand, there effect” by the beginning of the fiscal are two new ventures that have yet year (Saipan Tribune, 1 Oct 2010). to prove themselves viable. Fly Guam Since the legislature did not pass the has been operating charter flights to budget before 1 October, all gov- and from Hong Kong via Saipan three ernment offices except for essential times a week. They plan to inaugurate services were closed while the House flights to Australia and are exploring and the Senate worked out their dif- possible routes from central Russia. ferences. During that period, some At the present time they are only fly- members of the House of Representa- ing one 240-seat Boeing 737 but are tives threatened that if the Senate did expecting to acquire a second plane in not join them in approving casinos the near future. During April and May on Saipan as a revenue measure, 2011, Fly Guam was offering dis- the House would not consider any count rates of $450 for return flights bill emanating from the Senate. In between Saipan and Hong Kong, with response, the Senate refused to pass an additional 25 percent discount bills sent to them by the House of available for senior citizens. Representatives; in addition, because Every service on Rota and on Tin- the governor was siding with members ian is in crisis, creating an economic of the House, the Senate refused to disaster for the two islands. Existing hold advice and consent hearings for hotels are struggling to survive, with gubernatorial appointees. Public pres- many people leaving the islands per- sure was the only thing that got mem- manently. At the same time, a brand- bers of the legislature to pass a budget new luxury resort is being constructed two weeks into fiscal year 2011, which by Triple J in Chalan Kanoa on the allowed the government to get back beach in southwest Saipan, using pre- into full operation. The Senate stood stressed reinforced concrete slabs to its ground on being anti-casino, which create the walls. should come as no surprise since both Several other companies, includ- Tinian and Rota have casinos (strug- ing Korean investors, have expressed gling just to stay alive) that would be interest in reviving La Fiesta Mall in threatened by additional casinos on San Roque; according to government Saipan. Most direct flights from Japan estimates, it would cost upward of $5 to Saipan, Tinian, and Rota have been million just to rehabilitate the struc- 158 the contemporary pacific • 24:1 (2012) ture. Other investors, including two north of Saipan. This plan includes casino developers, are trying to revive homesteading, infrastructure devel- their construction permits to build on opment, transportation, and other Tinian. exigencies. Plans are also underway Federal laws taking over immigra- to explore the possibilities of cashing tion and raising the minimum wage in on the pozzolan deposits on Pagan, have had major impact on the growth which may still have some commer- of just about everything in the com- cial value. (Pozzolan is a byproduct monwealth. The Department of of volcanic eruptions. It occurs fairly Homeland Security’s Customs and rarely; the only other known deposit is Border Protection agency has taken at Mount Vesuvius in Italy. Its primary over airport security and in all too use is as an additive to asphalt for many cases has wound up alienating greater strength. Thousands of tons many tourists and returning residents. of pozzolan are estimated to be sitting Congressional delegate Gregorio Kilili on Saipan but gradually depreciat- Sablan has filed a complaint regarding ing in value because of the erosion this matter with the secretary of the from rainfall. There has been no sign Department of Homeland Security in of commercial interest in the deposit Washington dc. over the past several years.) Ecotour- A program by the Department ism is also being explored. Further, of Public Works to install poles for it appears that the US military may power lines along the roadside, all the be interested in utilizing Pagan for way from the Last Command Post to military exercises. If this is the case, just before Banzai Cliff, is intended and the people agree to such use, the to supply power to the Veterans military will have to compensate the Cemetery and a new public cemetery people for the loss of other develop- that is under construction. A citizens ment opportunities. group calling themselves the Friends of Innovation in agriculture is now Marpi has succeeded in blocking the becoming fairly common. Entrepre- completion of the power pole project, neur Tony Pellegrino has opened a citing the degradation of the Marpi very successful shrimp farm on his area. The group is concerned about property in Saipan and is already the visual impact of the poles on the exporting shrimp to Japan, Guam, and tourist experience, the violation of other destinations. This effort is part historic preservation regulations, and of an overall plan to develop agri- the lack of a public hearing before the cultural exports as well as to replace installation began. The Department imported food items. Pellegrino of Public Works has been ordered to intends to expand the market by cease and desist installation until a opening a new airline called Cargo Air trial can be held in early 2012. Bridge. This airline would be a public The mayor of the Northern Islands corporation (with shares available to has scheduled a Northern Islands the citizens of the commonwealth) Development Summit in September that could fly agricultural goods from 2011 designed to create a master plan Saipan, Tinian, and Rota to Guam on for the resettlement of the islands a regular basis.